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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  11. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  12. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  13. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. rock — music
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. prune — to trim
  5. leaves — to go away
  6. clip — for paper
  7. wax — to grow
  8. prune — to trim
  9. clip — to cut
  10. leaves — of a tree
  11. chip — in a computer
  12. chip — for betting
  13. leaves — lets stay
  14. saw — the tool
  15. rock — to move gently
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. saw — the tool
  18. chip — to eat
  19. kid — child
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. rock — a stone
  22. kid — to tease
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. clip — a video

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com